It is said after the storm always comes the calm. After Real Madrid’s tough defeat at the derby against Atletico Madrid, there is no doubt Los Blancos are in desperate need of calm. Carlo Ancelotti knows how to achieve it, since he has never lost any match following a 4-0 loss.
Prior to the Vicente Calderon disaster, the Italian manager had only lost 4-0 in three occasions: two with AC Milan and one with Juventus. The first time it happened to him, it was in his years at the Turin side and also in Spanish territory. It was on March 9th 2000, when his team lost 4-0 to Celta de Vigo and was knocked out of the UEFA Cup. However, Ancelotti managed to cheer his players up and Juve beat Piacenza 0-2 in their next match.
Ancelotti’s second 4-0 defeat happened while he was coaching Milan. Curiously, it was also in the UEFA Cup, more concretely in the first leg of the 2002 semifinals, when Borussia Dortmund thrashed the Italians. After that loss, the Rossoneri earned a 1-1 draw against Chievo Verona in the Italian league. However, the prove that Ancelotti was able to motivate his players after such a painful defeat came in the second leg of the semifinals. They lead 3-0 in San Siro, but the Germans ended up qualifying despite a 3-1 loss.
Oddly enough, the last time Ancelotti lost 4-0 his rival was Deportivo de La Coruna, who Los Blancos face this weekend. The Galician side beat Milan in 2004 in the quarter finals of the Champions League. In the following game, the Italians got a 1-0 victory against Empoli that almost secured the Serie A title for them.
Sir Anceloti , can you please allow your team to practice with Celta de Vigo ? I’m sure they will learn a lot for their next match against ATM next season .